Kyrgyzstan: Is the President Losing Interest in Constitutional Reform?

When he led the opposition, Kurmanbek Bakiyev was a strong supporter of amending Kyrgyzstan's constitution in order to establish a solid system of checks and balances. Now that Bakiyev has been inaugurated as Kyrgyzstan's president, however, civil society activists and some politicians are growing concerned that he is losing his zest for placing firmer limits on executive authority.

A driving force behind the March 24 revolution in Kyrgyzstan was popular opposition to then-president Askar Akayev's accumulation of power. After Akayev's ouster, provisional leaders convened a Constitutional Council charged with drafting amendments to redistribute authority among the branches of government. Now, four months after the council first met, it seems bogged down by divisive debate and a frequent lack of quorum.

Bakiyev, who was inaugurated as president on August 14, has advocated a substantial turnover in the council's membership, arguing that such change could reinvigorate work on constitutional reform. He also has assumed the chairmanship of the council  action that was endorsed by Parliament Speaker Omurbek Tekebayev.

Civil society activists suspect that recent action concerning the council will result in the preservation of existing prerogatives. Placing the president in charge of the constitutional reform process establishes a clear conflict of interest, the Association of Centers for the Support of Civil Society, an NGO umbrella group, said in a statement. "We must avert a repetition of the mistakes of the past few years, moving away from the domination and concentration of power in one person's hands," the association's statement said. Bakiyev's chairmanship of the council could "lead to the adoption of decisions that are in the interests of the branches of power that are in charge of the reform process," the statement said.

Tekebayev indicated that Bakiyev's landslide presidential election win altered the country's political environment, enhancing the president's influence. "Naturally, those who received a big vote of confidence from the people have the right to suggest something, to protect their ways and means of reaching something," Tekebayev was quoted as saying by Pyramid TV on August 22. "I think that the position of many Constitutional Council members will remain unchanged. Still, they are ready for compromise."

Since his inauguration, constitutional reform has appeared to be a secondary concern for Bakiyev. The president has sought to score quick points with the population, emphasizing the need for economic and social changes, while insisting on "iron discipline" within the executive branch. During an expanded government meeting on August 15, Bakiyev lamented that many Kyrgyz citizens had "fallen in the quagmire of poverty and [had become] stuck in bribery." He vowed "to get rid of" those officials who engaged in corrupt practices to extort money from citizens.

Such rhetoric fosters concern among civil society advocates. The main fear is that without a revamped constitution, Bakiyev, in seeking to implement his populist agenda, could easily fall into an authoritarian trap, following in Akayev's footsteps. For many years after the 1991 Soviet collapse, Akayev was regarded as the most enlightened of Central Asia's leaders, and Kyrgyzstan was hailed as an "Island of Democracy." Akayev, along with other Central Asian leaders, embraced authoritarian methods starting in 1999, when Islamic militants launched guerrilla operations in the region. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Some NGO activists, including Edil Baisalov, who heads the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, say they have detected signs that Bakiyev's administration is heading in a worrisome direction. Several criticize, for example, what they perceived to be excessive state expenditures, estimated at about $500,000, on festivities connected with Bakiyev's inauguration. And in an August 9 interview with a Kyrgyz weekly "Erkin Too," Baisalov noted that many Kyrgyz media outlets were broadcasting and publishing an increasing number of articles offering fawning praise for the president. "We must not praise them [Bakiev's administration], and if we see shortcomings [in their work], we should tell them in the face" said Baisalov.

The Constitutional Council comprises 114 members, who are drawn from the ranks of political parties and non-governmental organizations. Ten of the members, including Bakiyev, are associated with the government. The council has met several times, but consensus has remained elusive on where the new balancing point among government branches should be. Members have argued over whether to expand the number of MPs, whether or not to lift immunity for MPs and some government officials and how to make the process of judicial appointments more transparent. The council has also wrestled with big-picture issues, specifically whether Kyrgyzstan should be a parliamentary or presidential republic.

It remains unclear when the council will complete its work. Marat Sultanov, an MP and a Constitutional Council member indicated at a June press conference that the process of amending the Basic Law could take years. "We should not adopt a new Constitution in haste, but we should also not delay [the adoption] until 2010," Sultanov said. "We have to fully realize that by October 2009, when the next presidential election will be held, we have to have a new constitution. ... Everybody should know the rules of the